Members of National Assembly (NA) have drafted and filed a motion to the secretary to immediately discuss the safety and security concerns of children after the horrific Kasur incident has put the nation in a worry.

The motion was filed under Rule 110 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly. It reads, “the House should immediately discuss the shocking and horrifying incident of rape and cold-blooded murder of minor girl Zainab in Kasur.”

“The tragic incident has once again raised serious reservations about the safety of children in our society,” it continued. “It is unfortunate that a number of similar incidents had taken place in the area over a year or so, but still the law enforcement agencies have failed to trace the culprits and bring them to justice.”

“This requires immediate discussion on the floor of the house so that a concrete strategy may be devised to avoid such brutal incidents in the future,” it concluded. The motion was filed by NA member Imran Zafar Leghari, Nafisa Shah, Dr Azra Fazal, Shazia Marri, Shahid Rehmani, Surraiya Jatoi amongst others.

The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has cited the incident of Zainab’s abuse and killing in Kasur as an example of the authorities’ ineptitude and failure to take timely action despite the NCHR’s recommendations made in the wake of earlier such incidents in the district.

“The present incident is an example of the ineptitude of the authorities which have failed to address the issue in an appropriate manner to curb its future recurrence,” said NCHR’s second report on Kasur child abuses unveiled on Wednesday.

“Efforts to tackle child abuse are still short, and setting up of preventive mechanism for child protection on district level is still inept and unclear,” it added.